'Ozian' friends

For my friend's birthday back in March I decided to give my favourite 'Magic of Oz' selection another airing.  This was a very simple card where I went for darker colours to match the Scarecrow and Tin Man and stamped a sentiment onto one of the matching chip boards.  I've used brown Mulberry paper to mat the Oz postcard which was torn along the edges.

Thanks for stopping by! x

A busy week!

Well, the clock is ticking and the weekend's drawing nearer.  I keep thinking that everything is now done and prepared for the holiday but then another little item crops up on my 'to do' list!

Cases are at least packed (kind of) but hand luggage is still to do.  I always have a real panic when we go to Cornwall for the week, always thinking there's something I've forgot to pack or do, so as you can imagine a 3 week holiday is a bit of a nightmare for me in the 'panic stakes'!

My quiet week has turn out to be 'not' so quiet.  My work list seems to be getting longer as the week gets shorter.  With risk assessments still to write, emails to send, bookings to deal with and accounts to manage, holiday packing is now becoming less of a priority as we try to tie up all the loose ends with the business before going away.  Who on earth takes a 3 week holiday when they run their own business?............hmmmm we do! Oh well, once we're there I insist that there will be no talk of health and safety (and yes 'P', that involves your overly critical assessment of any Disney attractions and whether they have a safe system of work in place! ;) ).

'S' is off to Baggeridge Country Park tomorrow with school on the Leadership Program.  He's really pleased to have been chosen to take part but as he's a little scared of heights he's also rather worried about the prospective zip wires and abseiling he may have to partake in!  I've already told him that he can use it as a practice run for the stomach churning things Disney and Universal has in store for us!

'A's had a good week with better results in her mental maths tests.  She's had a couple of maths tests to complete at home before we go away but we don't mind seeing as she's missing a bit of time from school.  She's also off to see a Michael Morpurgo play on Friday at the local theatre.

Ear Candling!

'P' and I had a rather different experience last week when we went for a treatment of 'Hopi Ear Candling'.  After 'P's cold and my ear problems whilst flying we thought it might be worth a try as we'd read some great things about it online.  The whole experience was quite pleasant and not at all uncomfortable.  It involves the insertion of a hollow tube or 'candle' just inside the ear and then the top is lit.  As this burns down to a certain point it creates a kind of vacuum which removes blockages from the ear.  Yes, I know it's a bit gross but after the treatment you can even open up the candle to see what has been removed - the results were amazing!  I'm popping back again tomorrow with 'A' to have a second treatment and she's also having hers done to help with flight pain.

School Choir

Music preparation has also been a little busy this week but this has been very productive as we now have some idea of an order for the school concert.  Still a bit of recording to do for the backing CD but at least Jo has some new stuff to be going on with while I'm not there on piano duty :)  After yesterday's rehearsal I don't envy her! Our 56 well behaved choir newbies have now settled in and are starting to push the boundaries a little! I'm sure she will have them eating out of her hand by the time I return though.

Ladies Choir

No worries on the ladies choir front.  It feels like we've been learning the songs for soooooo long now with all the concert postponements that we know them inside out! The only one we were still struggling with was Queen song 'Somebody to Love'.  There is constant 3 part harmony in this throughout the whole song along with Yvonne and I doing solo lines and the whole thing has been a bit of a challenge.  Over the last couple of weeks though, this one has really come together and all that's left to do is a bit of polishing to tidy up the timing and expression.  I've told them I'm expecting great things when I return in 3 weeks :)

Tuesday's Treasures - Choir memories

Thought it was about time for another of Tuesday's Treasures!

My treasure this week is a group photograph that was taken last Summer of our 'then' school choir with Jo and I.  Although we have now been running the choir at our children's primary school since January 2008 this was the first time I'd been around and available to have my photo taken with the children (we're normally away on holiday that week...........yes I know, shouldn't take them during term time blah blah blah!).

If you count up you can see there are 40 children on the photo which includes our own daughters.  Choir started up again last week and we welcomed a new batch of year 3 children along with new members from the other key stage 2 classes.  We now have the grand total of 55 - our biggest choir to date..........a much wider photo required this year I think!

PHOTO REMOVED due to request of an 'anonymous' party

My apologetic return to blogging.........

What is it about taking a break from the blog?  A week off over Christmas, turned into a chilled fortnight, which before I knew it turned into a neglectful month!  The trouble was, the prospect of getting back into blogging became like that 'thank you' phone call you should have made a month ago that you know you still need to make but now somehow seems somewhat embarrassing as it's taken so long! (Does that makes sense?)

So, before I unleash my first post of 2011 upon you all, please accept the above ramble as my sincere apology and rest assured I am now back to full posting health!

Where to start? Well, Christmas was quiet but lovely (as always!) with Christmas Eve spent with family, Christmas Day at home and New Year at Steph and Dave's.

[caption id="attachment_494" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Hydrotherapy Pool - Lion Quays"][/caption]

P and I also had a lovely night away at Lion Quays in Chirk, Oswestry just after Christmas.  This was our first visit to Lion Quays and we were very impressed.  Our room booking included use of the main pool and gym but for an extra £15 each we were also able to use the Lion Quays Spa.  I have to say this is the nicest spa I've ever visited and our afternoon there was complete heaven.  The spa included a hydrotherapy pool, steam room, sauna, warm room, experience showers, snow cave (yes, I was brave enough to give this a try) and sun meadow.  There were also many treatment rooms, a bistro and relaxation room with complimentary herbal drinks etc.



[caption id="attachment_497" align="alignright" width="137" caption="Lion Quays"][/caption]

We ate in the main restaurant on the evening and once again we were impressed with the service and quality of the food.  Lion Quays is definitely one for the hot list and we will definitely be visiting again, hopefully in the not too distant future.  Rest assured the seed has also been planted with 'the girls' ;).

The new year routine has now kicked back into action with our first choir rehearsal for both the school and ladies choir last Tuesday.  Both went really well, especially the school choir where we now have quite a few new members.  We've introduced some new choir rules where the children compete against us as leaders to win chocolate at the end of the term.  Week one saw excellent behaviour from the children and concluded in a point to the them but I remain confident that the choir leaders, ie, us, will reign triumphant and the chocolate will be ours :).  The ladies choir went well on the whole but 'Somebody to Love' was a little rusty after the Christmas break.  A little work on this over the next couple of weeks should have it polished and ready for April's concert.

Work is steady but mainly spending our time tying up loose ends before our trip to................wait for it..................Florida! Yes, Florida!  This requires a separate post of its own, but our much awaited holiday to Florida is now only 4 weeks away and I'm so excited I could vomit!  Florida preparations to follow shortly.

An 'A' update

Couple of good bits of news for 'A'.  The dancing exam she took before Christmas saw her achieving a distinction with 82 marks overall and Friday also saw her receiving the achievement certificate at school.  Her teacher comments were that she's "an all round ray of sunshine".......awww, if only she could see her when she's screaming at her brother or unable to get out of bed each morning.  Seriously though, I am very proud of her and pleased that she's settled back in at school after a rough term before Christmas.

After being introduced to the group through one of our course delegates, she's now also joined the group Youth On Stage who put on shows twice a year in the Birmingham area.  We went to see their pantomime before Christmas and they truly were superb, especially considering they range in age from only 9 to 21.  She's loving every minute of the twice weekly rehearsals although she is struggling with the late nights.  None the less, the prospect of performing 'High School Musical' at the Old Rep in May is motivation enough to keep her going.

An 'S' update

Not much going on for 'S' at the moment although he is coming close to the crucial options choices at school.  He's decided he would like to be a sports teacher as his main love has always been sport.  He's now in the process of speaking to various teachers to assess what subjects he needs and which teachers will accept him for their subject.

So there you have it, first post of the year.  Ok, so it wasn't so painful (for me anyway) and now I've broken the blogging 'seal' I should be ok to spout off a bit more frequently.

Now for piccies..........bye for now!

[slideshow]

Listen carefully...I shall blog zis only once!

Went to see my good friend Jo in 'Allo 'Allo on Saturday afternoon (not Wednesday night as I'd originally planned due to a migraine!) at Leasowes Community Theatre.  This was an amateur production by local group Mayhem Theatre but there was nothing amateur about the performance - it was fab!

It was great to see acquaintances from disbanded Halesowen Musical Comedy Society which I used to be a member of, some of which I'd not seen for about 15 years!  Everyone played their parts exceptionally well and did a great job with the German, French and Italian accents which must have been tricky.

Jo's performance as 'Edith' saw her entering the stage for her first scene adorned with bread rolls for hair curlers.  I'd also like to assure anyone who came to see the performance (especially parents of the school choir!) that Jo's singing really isn't that bad and she obviously does a very good act of singing out of tune :)

A lot of work had gone into the creation of the set which was certainly apparent when the curtains opened.  Authentic costumes were hired in to give the performance a really professional feel.  I would urge anyone to grab tickets for Mayhem's next show, you won't be disappointed.

Whenever I see a show like this I remember how much I used to love acting but I also remember the effort and long hours that go into it.  Well done, Mayhem for all your hard work and on a superb show that had daughter and I in stitches on several occasions (especially anything associated with hidden knockwurst sausages!).

Pre December Update!

There's a lot going on recently but nothing that particularly warranted a full on 'post' all of it's own, therefore I thought I'd blog a little 'update'.

Can you believe it's only 30 days until Christmas? It only seems 5 minutes since I was lying on a beach in Majorca - browning nicely and now here I am, hat, scarf and gloves at the ready and precariously plodding my way to school as the dog nearly pulls me over on the icy pavements!  Say what you like though about the hype, but I do love this time of year with the anticipation of Christmas.  Cold, frosty mornings are wonder and especially so when walking a dog - why didn't anyone ever tell me?  We'd have had him much sooner :)

My Christmas pressy buying is not going too badly (for once) although I always seem to make a good start and then my enthusiasm dwindles, leaving me with 26 presents still to buy come Christmas eve!  How are you all getting on?  You're all going to tell me now that you started in July and they're already wrapped aren't you?

Got a busy week this week.  Monday started off with Dancing and Guides for 'A' as normal with an extra rehearsal thrown in ready for her Preliminary Modern exam this coming Sunday.  Yesterday (Tuesday) was our very last school choir rehearsal for the 'Young Voices' concert taking place tomorrow at the NEC in Birmingham.  The kids are really hyped (as am I!) about the whole thing although I think some of the younger members are a little nervous.  They're really in for a great day though if last year was anything to go by.

Tonight I'm off to see my lovely friend Jo playing 'Edith' in 'Allo 'Allo which is being performed by Mayhem Theatre Group.  From the little tit-bits I've heard so far, I can't wait! (More to come on this tomorrow :) )

As I've already mentioned tomorrow I'll be off to the NEC with the school choir.  It's going to be a long but very enjoyable day.  We leave school around 1pm and won't be returning till around half ten.  As much as I love the snow and frosty weather, let's hope it at least holds off to allow us a safe and swift journey there and back.

Friday is a quieter day, although it is the School's Christmas fayre which I no doubt will be attending to test my luck on the old tombola :).  'S' also has a friend sleeping over Friday night as a treat for his 14th Birthday.  Gone are the days of keeping them entertained though, luckily they'll be quite happy with a pizza and an evening of Xbox!

After such a busy week I'm relieved to say the weekend is a quiet one.  'A' has her dance exam Sunday morning but other than that I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing time with a morsel of Christmas cooking and cardmaking thrown in for good measure.

The Gallery - Braving the Elements

This is my first post for Tara Cain's weekly post 'The Gallery'.  It's a little late but due to the fact that I love this pic so much I thought I'd post it on here anyway!


This photo was taken back in 2008 on our girls weekend to Tenby.  The weather was ...........in a word...........AWFUL!  Due to the fact that we 'always' walk South Beach we were determined to go ahead as usual.

Oh my God.......the picture says it all!  We could hardly stand up let alone pose for the photo. Our clothes were soaked, I had to hold onto my hat for fear it would blow away and Steph (on the left) didn't realise that her hat was perched on top of her head like an elf and none of us bothered to tell her! :)




I have to say we had to give in half way across and the journey in the other direction was much quicker as the wind was blowing from behind us!

I can't help but laugh every time I look at this photo and I've just had a little giggle to myself whilst typing this and reminiscing about how funny the whole thing was at the time.

Fabulous Girlfriends - Part 2 - Jo

Thought I’d give you a little insight into the fab girls in my life and how our lives became intertwined in the first place.  So here’s the low down (in no particular order….before anyone gets upset lol).

Jo

I actually first met Jo quite a few years ago when I was around 16 as we were both in a production of West Side Story that was staged at Dudley Castle.  After completing this particular show I then joined Halesowen Musical Comedy Society which Jo was also a member of.  At the time we were probably more so 'acquaintances' rather than friends.  We saw each other at rehearsals and chatted but that was as far as things went, probably due to the fact that I was a little younger and we had very different lives.

A few years down the line I happened to bump into Jo on the school playground one afternoon and it also turned out that we had a mutual friend.  We got talking each afternoon and discovered we had daughters in the same class and also that she'd been tying 'S's shoelaces each week at football practice as his bad mother (me!) basically left him to get on with it :).  From then on we became closer and closer and our friendship bloomed!

Jo and I set up a school choir about 3 years ago which is still going strong so what with that, general school runs and the fact that Jo's also now in the Circuit Ladies Choir.........we pretty much see each other most days!  In fact it has been known for us to stand and talk for a good hour outside the school gates after everyone else has gone home (much to the caretaker's amusement!).

We've had so many good times and happy memories already, there are just too many to name them all.  We've shared family camping trips, drunken girlie nights out, drunken bonfire/new years and just general parties (noticing a theme here?), Tenby weekends and many, many cups of tea!  Jo is a really good friend and super listener and is always there when I need her. She's also now the fountain of knowledge regarding all things 'puppy' as she's already been there and done it all with lovely Airedale, Arthur.

Here's to many more cups of tea, drunken episodes and super times.

[caption id="attachment_237" align="aligncenter" width="604" caption="Me and Jo"][/caption]

 

Fabulous Girlfriends - Part 1 - Emma

Thought I'd give you a little insight into the fab girls in my life and how our lives became intertwined in the first place.  So here's the low down (in no particular order....before anyone gets upset lol).

Emma (or Emsie as she's affectionately now known!)

I met Emma when we were 5 years old and started school together.  I can't remember the exact first meeting but I know that we were both such nervous 5 year olds that we used to walk everywhere holding hands.  I remember a dinnerlady telling us one day, that we wouldn't be able to hold hands forever.......strange woman....why ever not ????!

I can remember Em and I keeping a 'joint' diary when we were about 15 which pretty much covered everything that was going on, boys and people that pee'd us off!  Oh, how I'd love to read that now!  I have fond memories of 1991 not only because of the 'joint' diary but also because we spent pretty much every day of the Summer holidays together.  I remember us watching Poltergeist 1,2 and 3 on consecutive days (whilst eating fish and chips) and watching Grease so many times we lost count.  I also have my friendship with Emma to thank for introducing me to 'P' as he was a friend of Emma's older brother Rob.

Em and I have stayed great friends ever since, sharing primary and high school together and she's also godmother to our son 'S'.  She's always been there for me when I need a shoulder to cry on and I hope I've done the same for her when she's been going through rough times.  She has a lovely son who's 5 who is absolutely wonderful and really makes me smile with his smashing sense of humour and contagious laugh.  We love to meet up (probably not often enough!) and always end up talking about funny stories, music we listened to when we were younger and our general philosohpy on life.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="604" caption="Me and Em!"][/caption]